Patrick Eaves nominated for Masterton Trophy

That was the night Eaves took a slapshot off the stick of Nashville’s Roman Josi, breaking his jaw and also giving him a concussion.

Nearly 14 months later, Eaves’ was finally able to continue his playing career.

“I couldn’t be a parent, I couldn’t be a father, I couldn’t be a husband,” said Eaves, a forward for the Detroit Red Wings. “I think that was probably the worst part. I was in a dark room for a while. That was the worst part of the whole thing. My wife held the ship together, ran everything and took care of me.”

Advertisement

Eaves has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the NHL player who demonstrates perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The selection is made annual by the Detroit chapter of Professional Hockey Writers Association.

“She was pregnant the whole time and then we had a one-year-old too, so she should be nominated for this,” Eaves said when he learned he was being nominated for the award. “I just got hit in the head with a puck. She deserves all of the credit.”

During the game against the Predators at Joe Louis Arena, Eaves went down to block a shot from the point by Josi and nailed directly in his jaw.

“She was really calm, she’s a nurse so she wanted to know facts and where I was going,” Eaves recalled. “Unfortunately, my in-laws were at the game, so they had to hustle home so Katie could come get me.

“I remember this to this day because I was like ‘don’t drop me,’” Eaves continued. “I just knew that I couldn’t get hit again. But (the guy in the back of the ambulance) knew like every bump along the way to the hospital. So when he knew a bump was coming he would hold me and I remember that. I wish I knew who he was. He was unbelievable. He’d hold me and there would be a bump right when – OK – I knew every time he held me that something was coming and I would kind of brace myself. He did a wonderful job.”

Eaves thought he had been cleared of the headaches late in the summer, but then suffered a setback when he resumed skating with teammates in September.

“That made me nervous,” Eaves said. “I remember that I got really dizzy and then the migraines came back there. That was frustrating because I thought that I was finally on my way. So I basically had to shut it down for a bit, but I knew I’d come back.”

Eaves finally returned to action on Jan. 21 this season.

“I didn’t know how long it would take, that was the biggest thing,” Eaves said. “I just knew that I would be back at some point. I had a lot of rough days in there though. But I knew that I would come back somehow. I’ve been pretty resilient my whole life, I guess, so I knew I’d come back, I just didn’t know when.”

Eaves has played 30 games this season.

“Patty is a great human being, No. 1,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “He’s an unbelievable person, he does things right. Patty Eaves is one of these guys that when he’s scratched he leads the stretch, when he’s scratched he’s in the power play and penalty kill meetings, he dresses for warm-up, he does everything right. If you can be as mentally tough as Patty Eaves and you keep digging in then you will be fine in life. Patty Eaves is one of those people. He makes people around him better because of his commitment to the team and his mental toughness, and he doesn’t let you get in the way of him having a great day. I think he’s impressive.”